Devils look to top Rangers for third time in row

Season series: This is the third of five games. The New Jersey Devils won the previous two games, including 3-2 at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 12.

Big story: This is the last meeting before the showdown at Yankee Stadium on Jan. 26 as part of the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series. The New York Rangers and Devils have been separated by two goals or fewer in 16 of the past 23 games. The Rangers are 23-11-3 (13-5-1 at home) against the Devils since 2007-08, dating to a 2-0 win on Oct. 25, 2007. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has faced Martin Brodeur in 38 regular-season games and is 24-9-5 with a 1.69 goals-against average, .933 save percentage and five shutouts.

Team Scope:

Devils: New Jersey will close a stretch of 11 games in 18 days Saturday. The Devils have nine points (4-5-1) in the past 10 games. They were limited to the lowest shot total (11) in team history Friday in a 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings at Prudential Center.

Cory Schneider finished with 18 saves, and the Devils lost their third straight. They are averaging an NHL-low 24.9 shots per game.

"We created quality chances [against Detroit]; I don't look at the shot clock and say we didn't have any offense," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "I thought we created a number of chances to score three goals [Friday], which would have given us an opportunity to win the game. We didn't cash in [on] some of our chances. We have to be opportunistic. We have to find a way to score two or three and we didn't do that."

Rangers: New York begins a nine-game homestand that will span 17 days. The next road game won't take place until Dec. 27 against the Washington Capitals. The Rangers recalled forward J.T. Miller from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, on Friday. He has one goal and one assist in 15 games with the Rangers.

They also acquired forward Kyle Beach from the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday in a trade for forward Brandon Mashinter. Beach, 23, was chosen in the first round (No. 11) of the 2008 NHL Draft by the Blackhawks. In 169 career games in the AHL over six seasons with Rockford IceHogs in the AHL, Beach had 41 goals, 76 points and 422 penalty minutes. A highly projected prospect during his draft year, Beach has yet to play in an NHL game.

"I am very excited to be joining the Rangers organization, and can't wait to get started with this new opportunity and adventure," Beach said via his Twitter account.

Who's hot: Devils defenseman Andy Greene has four goals and 14 points and is tied with Marek Zidlicky (three goals, 14 points) for the team scoring lead among defensemen. … Rangers forward Brad Richards is on a season-high five game point streak (two goals, four assists).

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